We are twin brothers who grew up in Central Washington. This blog is devoted to the life of Seattle sports fans, as well as various other topics that we will espouse for your enjoyment. We could be called another OFFICIAL SEATTLE SEAHAWKS site, but we'll take our uneducated crack at the Mariners, Sonics, and Huskies as well. A Seattle Sports Blog? Must be the land... of crushed optimism!

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Golic and Salisbury: Go to (opposite of heaven)

I told myself I wouldn't get bothered by NFL analysts during this week, but today's SportsCenter caused me to rise up in real anger.

Mike Golic and Sean Salisbury were asked to analyze the upcoming NFC Championship Game and look at four specific matchups, then pick the winner.

They had already done the same for the Broncos/Steelers, and had turned out a balanced approach where each of them had taken the other team except where Big Ben was concerned.

Well, that same balanced approach didn't quite make it into the NFC analysis.

Salisbury (talking about the Broncos): "This might be the most disrespected 14-3 team ever."

Nope.

Matchup #1: Who will have the most impact on the game: Steve Smith or Shaun Alexander?

Both pick Steve Smith, Golic making the caveat that we really don't know if Shaun will only play a few snaps. I'm actually seeing people (looking at you, CNNSI) say that Goings will outgain Shaun by at least 40 yards. Wow. This was, I believe, the MVP of the league, someone who scored a league record 29 touchdowns. Sure, Steve Smith has turned in two amazing performances, but Shaun turned in 16 amazing performances this entire season. How soon people forget....

Matchup #2: Who is the better quarterback: Jake Delhomme or Matt Hasselbeck?

Both pick Jake Delhomme based on his 5 playoff wins and best quarterback playoff rating ever. In six games. Neither care to remember Matt's quarterback rating in December, which was the best in the NFL, or the fact that he basically carried the Hawks over the Redskins on Saturday. Who would I rather have? Not even close. Hasselbeck. I mean, this, to me, is NOT EVEN CLOSE. I WOULD MUCH, MUCH RATHER HAVE MATT HASSELBECK AS MY TEAM'S QUARTERBACK. By the way, PIT asked this same question and both Wilbon and Kornheiser ALSO picked Delhomme. Wow. Again, wow.

Matchup #3: Who has the better defense: Panthers or Seahawks?

Both pick the Panthers defense, which is the only pick that I agree with them on. This is a slight pick, but the Panthers defense, led by an extremely physical secondary and the freak of Julius Peppers, is a little better then our own. Of course, Peppers might not play on Sunday, and that changes everything. Plus you can be sure that our guys will have a much better game plan in place to contain Smith, pressure Delhomme, and stop the run then the Bears did.

Matchup #4: Who is the better coach: John Fox or Mike Holmgren?

Again, this isn't close. I mean, they spend all this time making their picks because of postseason results, and then they pick against the one coach with an actual Super Bowl win. To them John Fox is the second best coach in the NFL behind Bill Belichick. Um..... ok. That's an..... opinion, I guess. Not a great opinion, but an opinion. Mike Holmgren has revitalized not one, but TWO franchises. Under his watch Brett Favre and Matt Hasselbeck became the best quarterbacks in the NFC. That's pretty decent, you know?

Final Question: Who will win the game: Carolina or Seattle?

They haven't spent any time liking the Seahawks yet, so why would they pick them to win? Now, I have to give it to Sean, he actually picked the Panthers back in August so I can respect him continuing that pick into the postseason. And Golic obviously believes that Carolina is substantially better and MORE PHYSICAL then the Seahawks, so..... there you go.

Eerrrgh. Man, I'm really trying to just let this stuff roll off my back, but something like this, where EVERYTHING is picked against the Seahawks, does actually anger me. Can't ESPN show any, ANY love for the #1 seed in the NFC, a team that also is 14-3?

Believe me, Gavin and I will analyze this game as well, and we won't be complete homers. There are areas that the Panthers are better at. But, geez, I can't imagine a worse segment then I just saw.